


The Usual Places

by queen_scribbles



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Married Couple, Post-Game(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2020-02-28 10:59:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18755098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_scribbles/pseuds/queen_scribbles
Summary: There are a few places where Charity can usually be found, and Edér knows them all





	The Usual Places

**Author's Note:**

> For prompt fill#89: Eora Day. I went with Ederity, cuz I’ve been dying to write them married(!) and anything that involves planting things is right up Charity’s alley. ;)

 

Charity was usually easy to find, at least in Edér’s experience. She was a creature of habit who gravitated toward a handful of places; the Dracogen, her gardens, their private chapel, or somewhere inside their house. Until recently--when his-or-hers had become _theirs_ \--Edér’s house would have also made the list. But they lived in her farmhouse now, and only kept his old house for nights work had him in town too late. There wasn’t much cause for either of them to visit it often anymore, effectively lowering the number of places he could (probably)find his wife.

She was not in any of the usual places today, but she was still easy to find. Planting, as usual. Only this time, it wasn’t vegetables or flowers, but a trio of young, almost reed-thin trees. She’d still clearly had fun; mud smeared up to her elbows and knees, smile even more sunshine-bright than usual, a small flush of sunburn tinging her cheeks and the bridge of her nose.

“Looks like you’ve had a good day,” Edér laughed as he approached. 

“Very good,” Charity confirmed. She stood and smoothed frizzies toward her bun with the back of one hand, streaking mud across her forehead. “Hendyna an’ I rescued these from a swampy patch near the Crossing. They wouldn’t’ve grown there, too much water in the soil. Here they’ll do great, an’ they’ll give us shade, and, you know...” she winked a him, “hopefully they’ll be sturdy enough to climb by the time we have a gaggle of tiny Teylecgs runnin’ around lookin’ for adventure.”

“A gaggle?” he said with mock-dismay, kissing her cheek. “How many kids’re you plannin’ on gettin’ out of me, woman?”

“If you wanna get picky about it, they’re gonna be comin’ outta _me_ ,” Charity retorted with a laugh, smearing mud down the front of his shirt as she playfully pushed him away. “And many as Hylea gives us. Why?”

“Just wanna know what I’m in for,” Edér teased. He gathered some of the mud from his shirt with one finger and smudged it along her nose. “And you realize you’re the one who’s gonna hafta wash this, right?”

“Yeah,” she shrugged, wiping the mud off her nose with the tail of her own shirt. “It’s just mud. I already got plenty of that”--she gestured at her own clothes--”what’s one more shirt?”

“Alright then...” he said, glancing at the trees. They were all firmly planted, spaced to accommodate future growth, and flanked by support posts. “You all done out here?”

“For now, yes,” Charity said with a nod. “A gardener’s work is never _done_ an’ all, but I’m through for the day.”

“Good.” He peeled off the muddy shirt and draped it over her shoulder. “I’m gonna start dinner while you get cleaned up and deal with the dirty clothes.” He winked and tipped her chin up to steal a kiss before heading inside the house. Charity laughed as she followed, and Edér wondered just how tempted she was to rub mud on _him_ , too.

However great the temptation was, she didn’t give in. She instead lingered in the vestibule long enough to strip off her boots and all the muddy clothes, wiping her hands and arms mostly-clean on the shirt before heading for the bedroom. “So, what’re we having for dinner, darlin’?”

“Nothin’ fancy; I’m pretty wiped out,” Edér admitted as he perused their options. Looked like they had the fixings for vegetable soup, which wouldn’t be too hard. Would be better if they had some venison or rabbit to toss in, but this would be fine.

“Everything alright?” Charity asked over the sound of splashing water.

“Yeah, just a long day,” he promised. “An’ I didn’t get to enjoy the pretty weather like you did.”

“Well, half the day was spent in a swamp huntin’ down medicinal mosses,” she said, leaning into view half-dressed and face still glistening with water. “Kinda hard to enjoy good weather when you’re almost knee-deep in sludge-water and bein’ eaten alive by midges. But we did find what we were lookin’ for.”

“Plus trees,” Edér grinned as he gathered up the vegetables.

“Plus trees,” Charity nodded in agreement. She smiled slyly and waited until his hands were full to toss him a clean shirt. “Here.”

He shot her a dirty look in the brief moment before the garment landed half over his head and half draped over the vegetables he carried. “Nice, Char. You wanna put on some pants an’ help me cut these up?” He couldn’t keep the amusement out of his voice, not that he was trying terribly hard.

She giggled. “Sure. The dirty clothes aren’t goin’ anywhere.”

Edér set down the vegetables and pulled on the shirt. “So... any particular reason for the trees?” he asked, voice slightly raised so she could hear, before he started cutting.

There was a soft grunt as Charity wriggled into a pair of pants. “Didn’t want ‘em to die.” She padded back into the kitchen, picked up another knife to help. “Trees are good to have. And the shade’ll be nice, once they get a little bigger, like I said.”

“All true,” he said with a nod, nudging aside the sliced-up carrots and reaching for potatoes. “They’ll help balance out that monstrous oak Soren just cut down ‘cause it was messin’ up his mulberry bushes.”

“What?!” Charity scowled, hands stilling halfway through chopping celery. “The man’s drownin’ in mulberry bushes, he couldn’t sacrifice a _couple_ t’ let the thing keep growin’? It’s been there forever!”

Edér raised an eyebrow at her vehemence and reached over to tuck back an escaped tendril of her hair. “Darlin’, he’s drownin’ in them ‘cause it’s how he makes a livin’,” he reminded her. “An’ it wasn’t just a couple; the tree roots were threatenin’ near a dozen of the bushes. Yeah, he needs t’ keep ‘em on _his_ land but he’s got a right to keep ‘em growin’ strong.”

Charity sighed and played with her necklace. “I know,” she groaned. “But it was such a _great tree_.”

“Hey,” he leaned over and kissed her temple. “Maybe ours’ll be even better.”

She laughed as she resumed cutting the celery. “Maybe. But not for a good long while; they’re still babies, as trees go.”

“Well, then it’s good that they’re here. You got a special knack for makin’ things grow,” he winked.

“Growin’ things and fixin’ kith, my two special talents,” she said with a smile.

“Don’t forget singin’ the praises of my cookin’,” Edér teased. “You’re also the best at _that_.”

“Only b’cause it’s such a sharp contrast to mine,” Charity laughed wryly. “An’ I think you’re forgettin’ how much Tavi likes your cookin’.”

“Nah.” He shook his head and winked. “She’s never kissed me to show her appreciation.”

“Well, that’s a relief to hear,” she deadpanned. “Might make our friendship awkward.”

Edér laughed at that as they finished cutting up the vegetables, then Charity left him with a kiss on the cheek to do the actual cooking part while she took care of the muddy clothes. Once the soup was simmering, he sat down on the couch and nearly fell asleep waiting for it to cook. This was not helped in the slightest by Charity sitting in her usual spot--next to him--to knit in comfortable silence until dinner was ready. It was, as a result, the closest he ever came to burning something.

Good thing he caught it in time to avoid that. He never would have lived it down. As it was, the vegetable were just a _little_ on the too-soft side, but still good, They enjoyed their meal, peppered with the usual  _“How was your day?”_ small talk and discussing what might come in the next few, before returning to their spots on the couch. They snuggled close, despite how much it increased the risk of falling asleep there. It wouldn’t be the first time, or the last, and certainly wasn’t the oddest non-bed place the two of them had fallen asleep.

_At least here’s comfortable_ , Edér thought contentedly, rubbing Charity’s back. Of all her “usual places”, tucked neatly under his arm was his personal favorite. And judging by her happy hum, she was pretty fond of it herself.


End file.
